The Balance of Light and Darkness
by Glecs
Summary: This is the starting point of Luminous's recovery from the sealing of the Black Mage. Following MapleSEA's/KMS/CMS system, Luminous cannot stay in the same mode all the time.
1. Prologue

This is an altered version of the Luminous storyline that I am writing a fanfiction about. He is my most favorite character in MapleStory. It has always been my pleasure to fill in the details and imagine scenarios of untold sequences. The beginning of this is closer to the original storyline, but it will begin to go its own way slowly. English is not my first language but I will attempt anyway. This serves as an introduction. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

_The equilibrium of Light and Dark is something unheard of and requires absolute balance of the wielder._

* * *

The moment he feels the darkness seeps into his body, the ominous voice of the Black Mage sounds in his head:

"___The Darkness you take from me will eventually devour you.__"  
_  
A burning sensation comes from his left arm as he feels something squirming its way deeper into his consciousness and taking root there in his heart. His left eye stings painfully and slowly, his body begins to loss control. His Light, knowing the grave danger he is in, uses all his remaining strength to put him into the state of coma. What happens next is total darkness.

Within himself, the battle of Light and Darkness continues on, never ceasing. His consciousness is sealed away to protect him. The clashing of Light and Darkness influences his body in a way that is unnatural. He becomes invisible to the mortal eye and sleeps on unseen. Although where he is currently, he never know.

The injuries obtained from the Black Mage is long healed by his fragmented and fading Light of Redemption. It is because of the powerful invading Darkness that his Light is shattered so. There is no way to push the Darkness out from the body, it has already become part of him. So tightly integrated are the Light and Darkness to his soul that the balance is never found without his own control. When the Light is in power, his consciousness wonders in bright and saintly places. When the Darkness is in power, his consciousness dwells in destruction and unknown anger.

For a few centuries, the cycle keeps looping. It taxed his soul to the point of exhaustion. In the brink of death, the battle of the Light and Darkness reaches a stalemate. And all is calm.

* * *

Luminous opens his eyes to find himself surrounded by the forest. He blinks a few times to ensure that he is not hallucinating. _Is this...? _With sheer will, he forces himself to roll over. He has never ever felt this exhausted and tired. The grass is soft, the trees tall and ancient, and the sun is shining brightly on him. _Is this Elluel? _It feels different. He takes a deep breath of the cool sweet morning air.

His senses comes back to him. _Where is the Black Mage? Everyone? _He cannot sense any danger. It is as if the time of the Dark no longer exists. No one, not Freud nor Aran, nor Mercedes are around. He feels sick and weak and his left eye feels different. He can still see fine, but something about the way he perceives things is a little bit twisted. He shakes off the bad feeling.

"Argh..." When he tries to get up, his body aches terribly.

A presence approaches cautiously. "Is...is that a person?" A young voice asks.

Hearing the voice of a human, Luminous is alerted. "Who's there?"

Coming into view between the trees is a fair and comely girl. She has a pair of beautiful blue eyes and shoulder length saffron hair.

"Where am I? What happened?" Luminous is still in the state of confusion.

Lania sighs, relieved. "Oh, thank goodness you're alive! You're going to be okay. This is a small forest located near Ellinia. My name is Lania." And she smiles warmly.

_Ellinia_? Luminous has not an ounce of idea where that is but he do know he needs to find some way to contact _someone _if the Black Mage is still around. "What? Take me to Elluel." Anyone should know about Elluel, it is the town of the Elves. He feels his emotions bubbling as the conversation goes on.

"Elluel? I think I heard that in a fairy tale one time..." Lania looks puzzled, she walks near Luminous to help him stand up.

_It can't be... _"Where is the Black Mage? Has he invaded your town?" Luminous starts to understand his situation. He uses one hand to push himself up, and is rewarded with a wave of dizziness.

"Huh? I heard a story about five heroes defeating some evil old wizard called the Black Mage hundreds of years ago, but I think that was just a fairy tale too..." Lania starts to give him a confused look.

_This is madness. Could hundreds of years have passed by in the blink of an eye? I feel odd..._ "Hang on," Luminous quickly turns his head away and let out a dry retch. To him, the one hundred year of inner battle within himself is non-existent.

"You have been really pale since just now. How did you end up here? No matter, please, come to my house and rest." Lania supports Luminous.

After a few moments, he regains his composure, Luminous says softly, "I-I will be alright. I am sorry about the bad impression I've made. I am Luminous."

"Luminous. Luminous." Lania repeats his name to herself, like to imprint that in her mind.

They start to head towards Lania's house, following her direction. Both of them are quiet, not wanting to break the peaceful silence and listening to the song of the birds up on the trees. It seems that he somehow landed on a clearing just now because the woods is thick and there are barely any sunlight as they go further away. A malicious thought grows within Luminous. _I am going to kill all the trees and this girl. _As soon as he realizes that is exactly how he feels like doing, he suppresses it quickly. _What is wrong with me? _He is bewildered by his own emotions.

After a while, Luminous feels better to talk again. "Are you not too young to wander the woods alone? Where are your parents?"

"I... don't know. Me and Penny have been here for as long as I can remember..." Lania says uncertainly.

"I apologize. I meant no offense." Luminous is very self-conscious about his manners.

"It's okay! Penny's my best pal. She's also a cat, but at least she's pretty good at talking. I kinda miss talking to people though. Penny always just nags me."

"I fear I am poor company. I've never been much for small talk." Luminous recalls his conversations with Phantom, it always ended badly.

Lania chuckles. "For somebody who's bad at words, you sure use a lot of big ones! When you get to my house, me and Penny can make you something to eat." She sounds excited to have a guest.

"I am really looking forward to it." Luminous says and he manages to smile without looking terribly sick. _If the Black Mage is truly gone, perhaps I could find meaning in a simple life._

* * *

-More to come-


	2. Chapter 1

I saw the adorable pictures of Luminous and Lania passing their days doing adorable activities. How could they be so adorable? I've never seen any cutscenes of two characters as close to each other as Luminous and Lania in Maplestory. Here is the first chapter of Luminous's life Post-Black Mage.

* * *

_The remnants of a corpse could be reborn into a greater being._

* * *

Lania and Luminous enters the cozy house. A fireplace is at the other end of the living room, cold and damp. It looks like it has not been used for a long time. There is a healthy tree growing in the center of the house and its giant leaves collects rainwater that flows gracefully down to a big wooden bucket, creating a picturesque scene.

A smug looking white cat with red ribbon tied around its neck greets them, "Mrow! Who is this weirdo you bring back home?"

"Shush, Penny, don't be rude. This is Luminous. He is our guest and he will be staying here for a while." Lania blushes, apparently embarrassed. "Sorry, Penny is uncomfortable with strangers." She says to Luminous.

Luminous nods, amused by Penny's attitude. "Nice to meet you, Penny."

"Mrow! I am not rude and I'm perfectly comfortable!" Penny jumps down from the table near the entrance. "If you give me fish, I welcome you, Mrow."

"Penny~ Please, Luminous needs to rest. He's had a bad day. Come, I'll bring you to the bed." Lania supports Luminous up the stairs.

"Sorry to trouble you so much, Lania." Luminous apologizes.

"Psh, you're going to help me out anyway, so this little thing is nothing." Lania says and laughs.

Luminous tried to walk on his own while they were back in the woods, but he collapsed. Ashamed of his helplessness, he offered to help Lania out with her chores when he recovered. Lania accepted it without second thought. He guessed it must be nice to have company once in a while for a girl living alone in a house like this. Lania seems like a friendly person, so he will try to get along well with her smug cat Penny.

"Mrow! You two are going to ignore poor old Penny and leave him in the corner." Obviously, Penny follows them upstairs as well.

The first thing he sees is the humongous teddy bear beside the bed. _Haha, very fitting to her image._ He cannot help but smile to himself.

"Why are you smiling?" Lania gives him a questioning look.

"N-nothing, just thought of something good." Luminous continues to smile. "Your house is very tidy and clean."

"Mrow, that's because I helped!" Penny says with pride.

"D'aww, thank you so much for your compliment!" Lania smiles back to him. She fluffs up the pillow on the bed. "There, you can lie down now."

Luminous lies on the only bed in the house. It is soft and warm. The pillow is fluffy, stuffed with feathers. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! I am going to get a glass of water for you. Be right back. Penny, please take care of Luminous. " Then, Lania disappears down the stairs.

Luminous closes his eyes for a bit but decides that it is better not to sleep now. His throat is hoarse and dry. He can tell Penny is giving him a curious and perhaps, a peer with a hint of distrust. "What is in your mind, Penny?"

"Mrow, you are strange, you have eyes of different colours." Penny keeps staring at him.

This baffles Luminous. "But I remember having sky blue eyes only." _Does this have anything to do with the pain in my left eye?_ It did not bug him too much when he awaken because there was too much going on. However, now that he is idle and the dizziness is gone, the faint throbbing of his left eye becomes more noticeable. He has forgotten about the moment the Darkness merged with his body. _  
_

Penny jumps on top of the dressing mirror between a bookshelf and the window. "See for yourself, Mrow. Penny is not lying."

The mirror is conveniently at the angle that Luminous can see his reflection from the bed.

Lania's footsteps can be heard. "Here, is your water. What have you two been talking about?" She puts the glass of water beside the bed along with the red alarm clock.

Luminous takes the glass and gulps all the water in one go. His eyes narrow to a frown. "Do you find me a strange person?"

"Penny, what did you do to Luminous?" Lania scolds the white cat sitting on the dressing table.

"Mrow! I did nothing. He doesn't know he has weird eyes so I pointed it out."

"Huh, but Luminous, I think your eyes are really beautiful and special! You are not strange at all," Lania says and ensures Luminous.

"Thank you," It is all Luminous can say. A sudden realization dawn on him. He had been cursed by the Black Mage and that left him with a scar forever visible to himself and others. _Perhaps I can view these heterochromia eyes as a proof that the Black Mage existed, and that we had fought him long time ago. _With that thought, he persuades himself to be calm. Lania's words are kind but she does not understand the meaning of the crimson eye.

"But," Lania continues, "You talk about things of the past a lot. I think that part of you is strange, in a good way." She giggles.

Luminous lightens up upon hearing Lania's optimistic laugh. "You know, it does not matter any more. I will get used to this soon."

"Of course you will, me and Penny will help." Lania smiles sweetly.

"Mrow! Don't forget you owe me a fish!"

* * *

It did not take long for Luminous to fall asleep. He is tired, physically, mentally and unbeknownst to him, his soul as well.

In his dream, he is part of the dark, endless world. His form is intangible and surreal, a spectre of darkness. He welcomes the Dark gladly and absorbs the knowledge like a sponge. Tainted. A brilliant light flashes in the darkness like lightning. He catches a glimpse of a familiar place. The medieval buildings stretching taller and taller, until he thinks they touch the unholy dark purple moon on the sky. Spiral staircase connects the building together, twisting and growing in every direction. Pieces of mirror floats in the sky, reflecting the light like shining stars. They are all shattered in different shapes and sizes. He stretches his hand out to the nearest one to him. It merges with him like iron attracted to magnet. With wonder, he walks towards the buildings. However, no matter how long he moves forward, the place is always far away.

Soon, the light fades and everything returns to darkness.

* * *

Luminous wakes up feeling much better and well rested than before. He raises his right arm to rub his eye. He had a good sleep.

A girl curled up and sleeps soundly right beside him. It takes him a while to remember. _Ah, yes, I am not in my time anymore. _He gazes at Lania who is grabbing on the corner of the pillow. This is the only bed in the house. Now, he feels guilty to hog the bed. Penny is sleeping on the warm carpet in the weirdest position of putting both of his paws on his head while lying on his back, legs crossed. _For a talking cat, it sure is a pompous one. Then again, maybe that's how cats are in reality._

He tries to get off the bed without disturbing the sleeping girl, and he is successful. Walking soundlessly down the stairs and out of the house, he keeps trying to conjure Light from his hand. The sky is lit dimly as the sun slowly rises. After an hour of trying, he manages to create very a small orb of light the size of a ping-pong ball after forcing himself. _This will do. _ At least he still have some strength to protect himself; he is the Mage of Light after all.

_I need my Shining Rod. _It was not around where he regain consciousness yesterday. It might be lost or destroyed. Nevertheless, he still decides to search for it in the woods. Before that, he returns to Lania's house.

Penny is already at the door. "I thought you were gone. Went hunting? Got fish for Penny? Mrow?"

Luminous squats down to talk to Penny. "Good morning, Penny. Actually, I am just about to go hunting, and also search for my belongings. Can you tell Lania that when she wakes up?"

"Mrow, you're polite. Not bad. I will tell Lania."

"Thank you." Luminous reaches his hand to Penny in an attempt to pet it.

Penny sniffs his hand cautiously before rubbing his head against his palm. Luminous smiles kindly as he pets the white cat who is slowly accepting him.

"The place is not large, but you are a new person so you need this, Mrow. Take it, we never use it anyways." Penny gives him a map of Ellinia. "Mrow. If you ever get lost, follow the river."

And so, Luminous ventures into the woods with the map from Penny.

* * *

-More to come-


End file.
